This week: we reveal our current favorite gadgets! Plus: is MacBook Pro’s Touch Bar a gimmick? Then: Apple set to unveil three new iPads; rumors point to an Apple augmented reality headset later this year; and don’t miss our exhaustive AirPods review—we tell you what we love and we what we don’t!

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iPads are getting stale… The only model introduced in 2016 was the 9.7-inch iPad Pro, while the 12.9-inch iPad Pro and the iPad mini haven’t seen a refresh since 2015. The iPad Air 2 has been the same since October 2014.

According to one Ming Chi Quo, Apple is focusing its efforts on updating the 9.7-inch iPad and 12.9-inch iPad Pro, and on introducing a new model with a 10- to 10.5-inch display.

It’s unclear whether the cheaper device will support Apple Pencil or the Smart Connector, but Kuo says it won’t have the new A10X chip, which will be exclusive to the larger models. Instead, it will be powered by the same A9 chip found in the iPhone 6s series

Ming-Chi Kuo, widely regarded as one of the world’s best Apple analysts, doesn’t expect Cupertino to launch an AR product until at least 2018

Apple is teaming up with Zeiss to create augmented-reality glasses that will be unveiled later this year, according to long-time tech blogger Robert Scoble.

“A Zeiss employee confirmed the rumors that Apple and Carl Zeiss AG are working on a light pair of augmented reality/mixed reality glasses that may be announced this year,” Scoble wrote in a Facebook post. “I thought it was next year but now that I saw this I believe it will happe this year.”

This week: the worst gadgets of CES 2017! Yup, we run through the gizmos no one on the earth actually needs. Then we spice things up with our most hotly anticipated tech of 2017. And finally, we’re gonna be real with you guys… Apple had a rough 2016. But that’s all behind us now. It’s a new year. It’s a fresh start. We discuss what Apple needs to get right in 2017.

Every year at CES, there’s one gadget that epitomizes the crazier side of Silicon Valley’s “connected tech” smart devices mania.

To do this, the smart hairbrush relies on motion sensors for monitoring your brushing patterns, conductivity sensors for spotting whether your hair is wet or dry, and a microphone for identifying “manageability, frizziness, dryness, split ends and breakage.” The brush also vibrates if you use it too vigorously.

All this data gets sent to your iPhone, where an app gives you a hair quality score, tells you which parts of your brushing need work, and offers hairstyling products to buy.

it's a slab that sticks to the bottom of the laptop to add up to 4TB of additional flash or SSD storage, an SD card slot, full-sized USB 3.0 ports and an Ethernet jack for wired internet.

The downside is that it makes your new laptop as chunky as the 2012 model. From a depth of around 0.6 inches, you'll now have a machine that's almost an inch thick. OWC chief Larry O'Connor said they've been developing the concept for over three years and feel like the time is right to release it.

The company doesn't have a release date and pricing info for the DEC yet

This week, it's our epic final episode of 2016! We’ll wrap up the year with our hands-on review of the hottness themselves, Apple’s AirPods. Then… is Apple’s “Golden Era” drawing to a close? We discuss. And finally, ya’ll know we review a lot of products during the year—we’ll reveal our absolute favorite gadgets of 2016!

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During a short interview, Cook told CNBC the new AirPods are a “runaway success” and that the company is making them as fast as it can. Cook didn’t divulge details on how well the company is doing, but he did hint that the holiday was really good to Apple.

This week: everything we like (and don’t) about AirPods; the insider way to lock down your own AirPods without waiting 6 weeks; Apple’s Mac division has a falling out with Jony Ive; and we remember the best of Apple, 2016.

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Apple’s Mac team has reportedly “lost clout” with the company’s industrial design group and software team, claims a new report

The picture painted by Mark Gurman as Bloomberg is a Mac division with a lack of clear direction from senior management, departures of key employees, and technical challenges — all conspiring to make the Mac one of Apple’s forgotten divisions.

The article notes that ever since last year’s reshuffle of Apple’s design team, meetings between the Mac team and the industrial design team have become less frequent.

It also notes more than a dozen engineers and managers working on the Mac have left over the past 18 months, with at least a sizable percentage put off by their lack of clarity about the “future of Mac hardware.”

One possible problem is the lack of a singular vision driving the division. Instead of having one concept to work on, increasingly engineers are — in the words of one source — “asked to develop multiple options in hopes that one of them will be shippable.” The result is that resources become more thinly spread than ever, while products ship later.

The iMac didn’t get much love in 2016, but according to Apple CEO Tim Cook, killer new desktop Macs are coming.

In a note to Apple employees, Cook assured staff that desktop computers are still “really important” and that they shouldn’t worry about future machines.

“Some folks in the media have raised the question about whether we’re committed to desktops,” Cook wrote according to TechCrunch. “If there’s any doubt about that with our teams, let me be very clear: we have great desktops in our roadmap. Nobody should worry about that.”

While it’s not known when they’ll be available for sale in brick-and-mortar Apple retail stores, you can breathe a sigh of relief, since orders placed through Apple’s online store are currently showing a pre-Christmas delivery date of December 21

Apple said AirPods will be available for purchase at Apple stores by next week, as well as authorized resellers, and select carriers. Apple also said stores will receive "regular AirPods shipments”

TV fans can binge on all their shows in one place with Apple’s new TV app, which simplifies the experience. With the new single sign-on feature, you can quickly access your subscribed content on all your devices. (Here’s how to set up single sign-on for Apple TV and iOS devices.)

This week: why Apple is done chasing big hit products. Plus: the demise of Pebble Watch is a bad omen for wearables; Foxconn secretly prepares to make more Apple products in the US; and we remember our favorite movies of 2016!

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CultCloth will keep your iPhone 7, Apple Watch, Mac and iPad sparkling clean, and for a limited time you can get 20% off your order with code JETBLACK at CultCloth.co.

We also want to give Kevin MacLeod at incompetech.com a thanks for the great music you hear on today's show.

According to Kuo, Apple will be scaling up iPhone production 120-150 million units in the second half of 2017. If true, this would would be well above the 110-120 million units Apple ordered of its bestselling iPhone 6 generation handsets.

Kuo claims this “unprecedented” demand will be centered around the myriad big improvements Apple has planned for its next-gen iPhone series.

The rumored decision to adopt a glass chassis for the next-generation iPhone is reportedly fueled by a desire to improve wireless charging, another key feature supposedly coming to Apple’s 2017 phone.

The report comes from notable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who claims that all 2017-era iPhones will boast the long-awaited wireless charging tech.

Earlier this year, a report from Bloombergsaid Apple was working with partners to overcome current technical barriers with wireless technology, including loss of power over distance. If successful, innovation could make Apple’s version of wireless charging considerably more advanced than Samsung’s.

This week: is a secret Apple project stalling Mac updates? It wouldn’t be the first time… Plus: Apple teases Black Friday deals; Airport routers are dead, and the Mac Pro might be next; the future of Time Machine; why iPad should be iOS/OS X hybrid; and Jony Ive’s new role designing Apple itself.

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Might Tees’ artful Steve Jobs, Woz, Apple and Star Trek tees are worn Will Wheaton, LeVar Burton, co-founders at Bad Robot, Chris Hardwick, Veronica Belmont, and even Steve Wozniak himself. And without Might Tees, there’d be Leander have Erfon would have never met. Grab a piece of CultCast history! While supplies last, get 60% off any order at MightTees.com and use code CultCast at checkout.

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And check out Cult of Mac’s new, free fitness eBook! This ebook is your practical how-to guide, covering step by step everything you need to know about getting fit with Apple’s devices.

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Apple is teasing a one-day shopping event for Black Friday that could bring tasty discounts on its latest products.

Apple chose not to participate in Black Friday sales last year, so fans were forced to look elsewhere for price cuts on Apple products.

In 2014, Apple took a different approach to Black Friday, offering free gift cards with certain purchases instead of cutting prices. Customers got up to $150 for buying a Mac, up to $75 with an iPad, and up to $50 with an iPod.

It’s also worth remembering that over the holiday period, the company offers free two-day shipping on almost all online purchases, while its retail stores are open longer.

"I see why some people think Designed by Apple in California could be Ive’s goodbye to Apple. But it feels to me like Ive’s heartfelt goodbye to his best friend and colleague, five years gone. I don’t think Jony Ive is going anywhere."

Having previously been announced as the co-designer (with BFF Marc Newson) of the Christmas tree at London’s famous Claridge’s hotel, Ive’s creation was unveiled over the weekend, and — surprise — it’s a plain tree with no decorations, set on a white background.

“There are few things more pure and beautiful than nature, so that was our starting point, layering various iterations of organic forms with technology,” Ive and Newson said. “Our aim was to create an all-enveloping magical experience that celebrates our enormous respect for tradition while recognising our excitement about the future and things to come.”

This week: the reviews are in! We’ll tell you what praises and complaints reviewers have about new MacBook Pro with Touch Bar. Plus: the one Touch Bar feature you’ll absolutely covet; why the new “Designed by Apple in California” book is an artifact Apple fans will love; Apple quietly rebuilds a library of their gadgets long past; how to get the best Black Friday deals; and Buster reviews the hawt new Mavic Pro drone by DJI, then crashes it into a cliff.

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Might Tees’ artful Steve Jobs, Woz, Apple, Star Trek, and Star Wars tees are worn Will Wheaton, LeVar Burton, co-founders at Bad Robot, Chris Hardwick, Veronica Belmont, and even Steve Wozniak himself. And without Might Tees, there’d be no CultCast, as Leander and Erfon would never have met. Grab a piece of CultCast history! While supplies last, get 60% off any order at MightTees.com and use code CultCast at checkout.

CultCloth will keep your iPhone 7, Apple Watch, Mac and iPad sparkling clean, and for a limited time you can get 20% off your order with code JETBLACK at CultCloth.co.

We also want to give Kevin MacLeod at incompetech.com a thanks for the great music you hear on today's show.

So what do the early reviews make of Apple’s new pro laptop? In a nutshell, that it’s futuristic, but maybe not an entirely successful device for present-day users.

Wired: The new MacBook Pro is a terrific laptop and, like the super-skinny MacBook, a clear indication of where most of the computing world is going. But comes with growing pains

Techcrunch: The less celebrated spec bumps are what make the new Pro a worthy upgrade. Better processors, more storage, a brighter display and better speakers are all wrapped up in a sleeker and lighter package than before… The Touch Bar feels like a nice bonus for the time being.

ArsTechnica‘s Andrew Cunningham writes, “The more I use the Touch Bar, the more I become convinced of its potential utility” — although a lot of its ability to replace the old function buttons remains hypothetical for now.”

Industry-leading storage performance.

Touchbar get 1.3Gbps WiFI (like 2015 model) instead of 867Mbps.

Walt Mossberg describes the Touch Bar as having “potential, but it’s not magic.”

WSJ: A Touch Bar, Touch ID and new design are tempting, but you’ll get the same performance and battery with the older model… So how do you decide? Do you invest in the present—the “old” MacBook Pro with performance, good-enough portability, a keyboard to cherish and lots of ports? Or do you invest in the future—a beautiful, highly portable machine with new tricks? Or maybe you do what I’m doing: Stare down at your three-year-old laptop and wonder if you can tough it out another year or two while this sorts itself out.

First spotted by users on Reddit, at present the fancy new Touch Bar lets users scrub through otherwise unskippable ads so you can start watching videos straight away.

“In Safari, the touchbar [sic] will pop up a scrubbing control whenever a video begins to play,” Redditor RomansFiveEight writes. “Amazingly, you can use that to scrub THROUGH an ad, even a non-skippable 30 second pre-roll ad; and begin your video right away!”

Apple has announced that it will be debuting a new hardbound book, entitled “Designed by Apple in California,” chronicling 20 years of its groundbreaking designs — boasting 450 photographs of past and present Apple products.

The book, which is dedicated to the memory of Steve Jobs, will also include exclusive details on the design processes used by Apple’s design team under the leadership of Jony Ive.

The photos contained are all shot by photographer Andrew Zuckerman, a filmmaker and photographer who has previously shot portraits of Judi Dench, Clint Eastwood, Ted Kennedy, and others.

“Designed by Apple in California”

it is available in two sizes — including a small 10.20” x 12.75” edition for $199 and a large version sized at 13” x 16.25” — costing $299.

According to a new interview with Jony Ive, Apple had to actually go out and buy copies of its old products in order to photograph them for its new $300 coffee table book

“[W]e’ve been so consumed by our current and future work we came to realise we didn’t have a catalogue of the physical products,” Ive told design journal Wallpaper*. ” … Many of the products that you see, we actually had to go out and purchase. It’s a rather shameful admission, but it’s just not an area that we really invested much time or energy in.”

Shortly after he returned to the company in the late 1990s, Steve Jobs gave Apple’s historical archive — comprising records that management at Apple had kept since the mid-1980s — to Stanford University Libraries because he didn’t want Apple to be fixated on the past.

A few years after that, in 1996, an ex-Apple employee named David Pakman who had worked there from 1991 through 1997 emailed Steve to suggest staging a celebratory event for Apple’s thirtieth birthday. He received a simple answer: Apple is focused on the future, not the past. —Steve

Fortunately, things are changing, Ive said. Around eight years ago, the company felt an “obligation” to go out and start building up an archive of every product it had released.

This week: early reviews show new MacBook Pro is a video editing powerhouse; Apple’s massive interest in augmented reality; rumors of a Jet White iPhone; AirPods to finally start shipping; new dongle discounts; and finally—is Apple still developing an electric car?

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Might Tees’ artful Steve Jobs, Woz, Apple and Star Trek tees are worn Will Wheaton, LeVar Burton, co-founders at Bad Robot, Chris Hardwick, Veronica Belmont, and even Steve Wozniak himself. And without Might Tees, there’d be Leander have Erfon would have never met. Grab a piece of CultCast history! While supplies last, get 60% off any order at MightTees.com and use code CultCast at checkout.

CultCloth will keep your iPhone 7, Apple Watch, Mac and iPad sparkling clean, and for a limited time you can get 20% off your order with code JETBLACK at CultCloth.co.

Learn how to get in shape using your Watch and iPhone! Sign up for Cult of Mac's new FREE Fitness ebook.

We also want to give Kevin MacLeod at incompetech.com a thanks for the great music you hear on today's show.

According to one Apple fan, who spoke to an employee at Conrad, an Apple authorized reseller in Germany, AirPods will be delivered to stores next Friday, November 17.

“I have just talked with an employee of the Conrad Online Store, since I am there on 14.10 the AirPods ordered and I wanted to cancel today,” he explained to Apfelpage.de. “According to information from the employee, they have stockpiles from 17.11, I will then have them between November 18-19.

“Multiple reports collated by AppleInsider and other sources show that Apple is gearing up for the first wave of shipments of the 13- and 15-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, in every configuration,”

The first wave of shipments is expected to reach customers as early as November 11. Those who ordered before the shipping estimate slipped should expect to receive them by November 17, though some could be waiting until November 25.

latest model generated over seven times the revenue that the MacBook 12-inch did during its April 2015 launch. The new model’s sales already equal 78 percent of all the revenue generated by the MacBook 12-inch since it became available, and has accumulated more revenue than any other laptop this year.

Slice Intelligence found 40 percent of Apple laptop owners who purchased a MacBook in 2014 bought their next laptop with another brand. Dell and Asus computers were the most popular laptops for people who previously purchased a MacBook.